Christopher Nolan Signed Off On Zack Snyder’s Batman

Christopher Nolan set the bar on Batman in many ways. There is no shortage of fans who consider Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises to be among the better Batman films ever created. And with Nolan having served as executive producer on Man of Steel, director Zack Snyder sought his blessing before essentially making the Dark Knight one of the villains of the sequel.

Empire’s newest issue focuses primarily on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and one particular exclusive includes Snyder’s recollection of this particular conversation between him and Nolan. According to Snyder, he initially saw Batman as the bad guy in the duel between two of DC’s biggest superheroes, and he didn’t want to paint the Caped Crusader in such a light without first running it by the man who most recently directed the character. He told Nolan that he wouldn’t do it if Nolan didn’t want him to. Nolan’s response?

“Well, we don’t own these characters. When you’re done making Batman movies, someone else will [make them].”

This may sound a bit begrudging, and Snyder actually had a similar thought. The way he sees it, Nolan may not have found it easy to give his blessing for someone else to take over Batman’s story so soon after the Dark Knight trilogy.

“I think he found it a little hard. I would feel the same way.”

That said, Snyder was greatly excited when he received the go-ahead. And while he may have referred to Batman as the bad guy in his initial conversation with Nolan, that’s not quite how he sees things now.

“In a lot of ways Batman v Superman is a very personal concept. It is just two people trying to understand each other’s point of view.”

This story and more will be among the many covered in Empire’s new issue, which hits stands tomorrow. As for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, you can catch it when it hits theaters on March 25.